I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6018 

To establish an interagency program to assist countries in the Sahel, 

Maghreb, and adjacent regions of Africa to improve immediate and 

long-term capabilities to counter terrorist threats, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 6, 2018 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Mr. KEATING) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency program to assist countries in 

the Sahel, Maghreb, and adjacent regions of Africa to 

improve immediate and long-term capabilities to counter 

terrorist threats, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counter5 terrorism Partnership Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER2 SHIP. 

3 (a) TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER4 SHIP.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State, 

6 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and 

7 the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

8 International Development, shall establish a partner9 ship, to be known as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counterter10 rorism Partnership’’ (TSCTP), to coordinate all 

11 United States programs, projects, and activities in 

12 the Sahel, Maghreb, and adjacent regions of Africa 

13 that are conducted for any of the following purposes: 

14 (A) To build the capacity of foreign mili15 tary and law enforcement entities in such re16 gions to conduct counterterrorism operations. 

17 (B) To improve the ability of foreign mili18 tary and law enforcement entities in such re19 gions to cooperate on counterterrorism efforts. 

20 (C) To enhance the border security capac21 ity of partner countries in such regions, includ22 ing the ability to monitor, restrain, and inter23 dict terrorist movements. 

24 (D) To strengthen the rule of law in such 

25 countries, including access to justice, and the 

26 ability of the law enforcement entities of such 


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1 partner countries to detect, disrupt, respond to, 

2 investigate, and prosecute terrorist activity. 

3 (E) To monitor and counter the financing 

4 of terrorism. 

5 (F) To further reduce any opportunities 

6 among communities in such regions for recruit7 ment or incitement for terrorist activities 

8 through public diplomacy efforts, such as sup9 porting youth employment, promoting meaning10 ful participation of women, strengthening local 

11 governance and civil society capacity, and im12 proving access to education. 

13 (2) CONSULTATION.—In coordinating programs 

14 through the TSCTP, the Secretary of State may 

15 also consult, as appropriate, with the Director of 

16 National Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

17 the Attorney General, and the heads of other rel18 evant Federal departments and agencies. 

19 (3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

20 than 15 days before obligating amounts for an activ21 ity coordinated by the TSCTP pursuant to para22 graph (1), the Secretaries of State shall submit a 

23 notification, in accordance with the requirements of 

24 section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

25 (22 U.S.C. 2394–1), that includes the following: 


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1 (A) The foreign country and entity, as ap2 plicable, whose capabilities are to be enhanced 

3 in accordance with the purposes specified in 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 (B) The amount, type, and purpose of sup6 port to be provided. 

7 (C) An assessment of the capacity of the 

8 foreign country or entity to absorb the training 

9 or equipment to be provided. 

10 (D) The estimated cost, implementation 

11 timeline, and delivery schedule for assistance. 

12 (E) A description of the arrangements to 

13 sustain any equipment provided by the activity 

14 beyond the completion date of such activity, if 

15 applicable, and the estimated cost and source of 

16 funds to support such sustainment. 

17 (F) The amount, type, statutory authoriza18 tion, and purpose of any United States assist19 ance provided to such foreign country during 

20 the three preceding fiscal years. 

21 (b) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR COUNTERTER22 RORISM EFFORTS.— 

23 (1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 


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1 Defense and the Administrator of the United States 

2 Agency for International Development, shall submit 

3 to the appropriate congressional committees a com4 prehensive, interagency strategy that— 

5 (A) highlights the desired end states, stra6 tegic objectives, and sub-objectives for the 

7 United States counterterrorism effort in the 

8 Sahel, Maghreb, and adjacent regions of Africa 

9 with respect to the use of all forms of United 

10 States assistance to counter violent extremism; 

11 and 

12 (B) includes a plan by the Secretary of 

13 State for the manner in which programs shall 

14 be coordinated by the TSCTP pursuant to sub15 section (a)(1). 

16 (2) SUPPORTING MATERIAL IN ANNUAL BUDG17 ET REQUEST.—The Secretary of State shall include, 

18 in the budget materials submitted in support of the 

19 budget of the President (submitted to Congress pur20 suant to section 1105 of title 31, United States 

21 Code) for each fiscal year beginning after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, a description of the re23 quirements, activities, and planned allocation of 

24 amounts requested by the TSCTP. 


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1 (3) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

2 (1) and each description required under paragraph 

3 (2) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 

4 include a classified annex. 

5 (c) ASSESSMENT, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION

6 OF PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.— 

7 (1) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Sec8 retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 

9 Defense and the Administrator of the United States 

10 Agency for International Development, shall conduct 

11 rigorously assess, monitor, and evaluate programs 

12 coordinated by the TSCTP pursuant to subsection 

13 (a)(1) including by the following: 

14 (A) Initial assessments of partner capa15 bility requirements, potential programmatic 

16 risks, baseline information, and indicators of ef17 ficacy for purposes of planning, monitoring, and 

18 evaluation of the programs and activities co19 ordinated by the TSCTP. 

20 (B) Evaluations of the efficiency and effec21 tiveness of such programs and activities. 

22 (C) Monitoring implementation of such 

23 programs and activities with respect to the stat24 ed objectives outlined in the strategy required 

25 under subsection (b)(1). 


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1 (D) Identification of lessons learned in car2 rying out such programs and activities to de3 velop recommendations for improving such 

4 strategy and future security cooperation pro5 grams and activities of the TSCTP. 

6 (2) BEST PRACTICES REQUIREMENTS.—The on7 going assessment required under paragraph (1) shall 

8 be conducted in accordance with the best practices 

9 described in section 383(b)(2) of title 10, United 

10 States Code. 

11 (3) REPORTS.— 

12 (A) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For the 5- 

13 year period beginning on the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

15 submit to the appropriate congressional com16 mittees an annual report on the findings of the 

17 ongoing assessment required by paragraph (1) 

18 during the previous fiscal year. Each report 

19 shall include, with respect to such previous 

20 year, the following: 

21 (i) A description of all activities co22 ordinated by the TSCTP pursuant to sub23 section (a)(1). 


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1 (ii) An evaluation of the lessons 

2 learned and best practices identified in ac3 cordance with paragraph (2). 

4 (iii) An analysis of major actions 

5 taken by the government of each foreign 

6 country receiving assistance coordinated by 

7 the TSCTP to combat corruption, improve 

8 transparency and accountability, and pro9 mote other forms of good governance such 

10 as those described in section 133 of the 

11 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

12 2152c) (relating to programs to encourage 

13 good governance). 

14 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF EFFICIENCY

15 EVALUATION.—The Secretaries of State and 

16 Defense shall jointly make publicly available a 

17 summary of each evaluation conducted pursu18 ant to paragraph (1), from which the Secre19 taries may redact or omit any information that 

20 the Secretaries determine should not be dis21 closed to the public in order to protect the in22 terests of the United States or of any relevant 

23 foreign country. 


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1 (C) FORM.—The report required by sub2 paragraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassi3 fied form but may include a classified annex. 

4 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

5 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con6 gressional committees’’ means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

8 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

9 Appropriations, and the Permanent Select Com10 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representa11 tives; and 

12 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

14 Appropriations, and the Select Committee on Intel15 ligence of the Senate. 

Æ 


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